What Does Takata's Bankruptcy Mean for Car Owners?1:44

Japan's Takata has filed for bankruptcy after its explosive air bags triggered the recall of tens of millions of cars. If you own a car with a Takata air bag, what's the impact?

June 27th 2017

8 months ago

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The largest automotive recall in history centres around the defective Takata airbags that are found in millions of vehicles manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFPSource:Getty Images

A CLASS action has been launched against the nation’s biggest car manufacturers over their role in the defective Takata airbag scandal.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan announced it will be filing an open class action in Australia against car manufacturers including Toyota, Honda, and Mazda.

The class action will be filed in the Federal Court of Australia and will allege that the car manufacturers are in breach of a number of provisions under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

Damian Scattini, a Partner at Quinn Emanuel said it was “outrageous and almost inconceivable that there are over one million cars on Australian roads contain a so called safety product that could explode with lethal force at any time.

”People who are driving these cars need to enforce their consumer rights before there are any more tragedies,” he said.

The class action comes after Toyota and Lexus admitted to refitting cars in Australia with the same brand of potentially faulty airbags at the centre of a massive global safety recall.

The competition watchdog launched an investigation after consumer group Choice warned Australian drivers they could be sitting behind the wheel of “ticking time bombs” because several car makers had refitted vehicles with Takata airbags, despite links to 18 deaths worldwide.

The dodgy Takata airbags, which can explode and launch metal shards when deployed, have also been linked to at least 180 injuries.

Toyota and Lexus on Monday confirmed they used Takata airbags as temporary replacements in some cases and would have to again refit those vehicles.

“This action provided safety for a number of years, however, due to exposure to the environment over time, these airbags will need to be replaced again,” they said.

The ACCC is now investigating the Takata airbag recall. Picture: ChoiceSource:Supplied

Choice said Mazda, Lexus, BMW and Subaru had also refitted recalled vehicles with Takata airbags as a temporary measure following a global recall of the devices that began in 2009.

However, rivals Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi, which also had vehicles affected by the recall, declined to tell Choice about their replacement airbags.

The consumer advocacy group had also found the companies have failed to inform consumers of the ongoing risk of death or injury.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims urged drivers to check if their vehicle was subject to the Takata recall and demanded car makers tell consumers what replacements they were installing.

The ACCC is also seeking information from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, which is monitoring the recall, about what car makers are required to tell consumers about replacement products.

“We would have very serious concerns if manufacturers were found to be misleading consumers about their car’s safety in breach of their obligations under consumer law,” Mr Sims said.

Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey slammed the manufacturers for fitting faulty airbags in the first place, warning drivers were the ones being put at risk.

“With 2.3 million vehicles in Australia requiring their potentially lethal Takata airbags to be replaced, it’s clear the car companies are under pressure to fulfil their obligations under Australian consumer law,” he said.

“However, refitting vehicles with the same dangerous airbags still leaves people driving ticking time-bombs.”

The number of affected vehicles and models.Source:Supplied

About 100 million vehicles globally have been recalled amid safety concerns relating to dodgy Takata airbags, which can explode and launch metal shards that can puncture people’s eyes, face, neck, and chest.

More than 2.3 million vehicles in Australia were subject to the recall, with 850,000 already having had their airbags replaced.

Mr Godfrey said while car companies were under pressure to replace the airbags, “refitting vehicles with the same dangerous airbags still leaves people driving ticking time bombs”.

Choice also said it was concerning some consumers faced a six month wait before the situation was fixed.

It said consumers could expect their faulty airbags to be replaced in a reasonable amount of time and they could lodge a complaint with the Department of Fair Trade if this didn’t occur.

If you have one of these makes and models, Choice suggests you take action now. Picture: ChoiceSource:Supplied

A 58-year-old man who died in a crash in Sydney last Friday is suspected of being the 18th person globally to have lost their life as a result of a dodgy Takata airbag after he was struck in the neck by a small fragment. A 21-year-old Darwin woman also suffered serious injuries when a faulty Takata airbag didn’t deploy properly in April.

Choice wants laws to ensure companies involved in product recalls use safe replacements, and fines for those that don’t.

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said the motoring group welcomed the ACCC’s investigation and urged car makers to be more proactive in addressing concerns about product recalls.

“It’s crucial people have confidence in safety measures like airbags because they can save lives,” he said.

The Takata airbag recall in Australia is more than 21 times bigger than that of the VW “Dieselgate” debacle.

Choice also found only 31 per cent of 2.3 million affected vehicles have had their potentially lethal airbags replaced as of April this year.

In a brief statement on its website, Takata apologised over the widespread concern and inconvenience caused as a result of its inflators and urged drivers to check if their vehicles were under recall.

It said the recall is not expected to be completed until the end of 2019, the ABC reported.

Choice insisted the recall should serve as a wake-up call to the government about the flaws in product safety systems.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has confirmed it is investigating the Takata airbag recall.

It said it was urgently seeking information from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development (DIRD) and car manufacturers regarding the airbags, which are “at the centre of the largest vehicle recall in history”.

More than 2.3 million vehicles across the country have become subject to the recall of airbags made by the Japanese manufacturer whose airbags are fitting in cars sold in Australia, including Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Lexus, Jeep, Nissan, Chrysler, and Dodge.